Brett Battles - No Return

“Shouldn’t you be the one who knows the answer to that?” Alison couldn’t quite keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

“Tell Dione what’s happening,” he told her. “I’ll be right back.”

He went over to Anna’s room, but didn’t have her spare keycard on him, so he knocked.

He could hear something inside, but no one answered. The noise was faint.

“Anna?” he said, knocking again. The door remained closed.

He walked quickly back to his room, retrieved the spare keycard, and returned to her door. He knocked one more time, then slipped the card into the lock.

After he pushed the door open, he froze.

The room reminded him in nearly every detail of Tony’s.

Clean.

Bed not slept in.

The only difference was the clock radio on the nightstand playing low in the background.

There was no one there.

Anna was gone.

“Anna!”

Wes rushed into the bathroom, but it was empty.

He realized with dread that he’d fallen asleep next door thinking she was just on the other side of the wall, but she hadn’t been.

That meant the last place she’d been …

… was his room.

He ran out the door and nearly crashed into Danny on the sidewalk.

“Whoa. Slow down,” Danny said.

Wes threw open the door to his room and raced inside. He scanned the space with new eyes, looking for any clue as to what might have happened to Anna.

“Hey, you all right?” Danny was standing in the entryway.

Wes dropped to his hands and knees and looked under the bed. About six inches in, there was a wood-sided pedestal that prevented anything from being pushed all the way under.

He checked the bathroom. Only his toiletries and Anna’s toothbrush sticking out of a glass.

“Wes, what’s going on?” Danny asked.

“Get the police,” Wes said. “They’re over at Tony’s room.”

“What? Why?”

“Just do it! Please.”

Danny nodded and headed quickly out of the room.

Wes stepped back into the bedroom and took another look around.

First Tony and now Anna? What in God’s name was happening?

His gaze stopped at the closet. It had double doors that opened to either side. The door on the left was sticking open a half inch. He knew he hadn’t left it that way. He approached it, fearful of what he might find, but knowing he had to look. He placed a couple of fingers against the edge near the top and pulled.

For a second he forgot to breathe.

Someone had taken one of the suit hangers and turned it ninety degrees. Taped on the wooden crossbar was a newspaper clipping. It was folded in half, so he couldn’t see what the article was.

He removed it from the hanger and opened it up.

LOCAL STUDENT MISSING

Under the headline was a picture of Jack Rice.

Danny reentered the room, Officer Rockwell right behind him.

“Mr. Stewart,” Rockwell said. “You wanted to see me?”

Without even thinking, Wes folded the article and slipped it into his pocket, then said, “Someone else is-”

“What the hell is that?” Danny asked.

At first Wes thought Danny had seen him hide the paper, but he was pointing at something behind Wes’s shoulder.

Wes turned. Mounted on the inside of the open closet door was a full-length mirror. On it was a viscous substance that Wes recognized immediately.

Vaseline. Just like in Anna’s original room.

There were words on Wes’s mirror, also, only they were harder to distinguish because there was no steam to help make them stand out. Still, Wes could discern the message.

YOUR FAULT

Wes and the others were gathered in a meeting room just off the motel lobby. Monroe was the only one sitting. Everyone else was either leaning against a wall or standing.

All, that is, except for Wes. He couldn’t stop pacing.

“That’s really annoying,” Monroe said as he walked past her chair for the third time.

“Shut up, Monroe,” Alison said.

Monroe sat up. “What did you say?”

“I said shut up.”

“You shut up!” Monroe yelled.

“Really? That’s the best you can come up with?”

“I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but-”

“For God’s sakes, Monroe, listen to yourself,” Dione said. “You’re acting like a jackass. There are two people missing, friends of ours. This isn’t about you.”

That quieted everyone.

Wes continued, undeterred, his mind going a million miles a second. The only thing he was sure of was that Commander Forman was behind Anna’s disappearance.

He must have thought he could use her as leverage to keep Wes quiet.

But what about Tony?

That was a piece that didn’t fit.

Unfortunately, Wes was sure telling the police about Forman’s involvement would hamper the search more than help. They were already leaning toward the possibility that Wes had something to do with the other events. So it was doubtful any theory he put forward would be believed, especially a theory that centered on a Navy commander kidnapping citizens in order to cover up the identity of the person who had died in a fighter crash. No, if he wanted the police to believe him, he would have to bring them stronger evidence than he currently had. Irrefutable evidence. Evidence that started with the papers Lars had given him the night before. Unfortunately, those were still in his room. He needed to retrieve them, examine them, then work out what to do from there.

The door opened, and a uniformed officer ushered Dori inside.

“Got here as soon as I could,” she said.

Danny walked over to her. “It’s okay. They haven’t talked to any of us yet.”

Dione was looking at them, one brow raised.

“She was the last one to see Tony,” Danny said. “I thought the police would want to talk to her. So I gave her a call.”

Dione nodded. “Good thinking.”

“I’m not sure how much help I’m going to be,” Dori said.

“Did you see the people he was with?” Alison asked, hopeful.

“No … I don’t know, maybe. It’s possible they were there, too. But he didn’t introduce me to anyone. And I was at the counter when he left, so I didn’t see who he walked out with.”

“Maybe there was a security camera,” Alison suggested. “Maybe they have footage of Tony and the others.”

Dori’s face brightened. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

As Wes walked by Danny and Dori, Dori reached out and touched his arm. “I can tell how important Anna is to you. I’m sure she’s okay.”

“Thanks,” he mumbled.

The door opened again. This time Detectives Stevens and Andrews came in. One by one they began taking people into another room for questioning. They saved Wes for last, but just before they walked him out, Stevens said to the rest of the group, “You can all return to your rooms. But for at least the next couple of days, you’re to remain in town.”

“Hey,” Monroe said, “I wasn’t even here this weekend. There’s no reason I need to stay.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Banks. There are no exceptions.”

“That’s ridiculous!”

“Can it, Monroe,” Dione said.

“Mr. Stewart,” Stevens said, “if you’ll come with us.”

Dione caught Wes’s eye. “We’ll be in my room when you’re done.”

The cops led Wes through the motel lobby and into a staff break room. Inside, there were two small tables with three chairs each. They took the table nearest the door.

“So here we are again,” Andrews said, sitting across from Wes.

Stevens flipped through some pages on the legal pad. “According to Officer Rockwell, you didn’t realize that Miss Mendes was gone until the police were already here to investigate Mr. Hall’s disappearance.”